Palringo Launches White Label Mobile Instant Messaging Service

SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON, February 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Managed Service Allows Service Providers, Operators and Others to Launch Fully-Branded Mobile Messaging Service with No CapEx Investment

Palringo, the mobile instant messaging company, today announced the launch of its white label mobile instant messaging service. Palringo Custom Solutions is a managed service that allows operators, specialty service providers and other entities to develop their own branded IM networks in as little as four weeks, while providing connectivity to other popular messaging services. Palringo owns and manages the equipment, provides a second line of technical support, performs all customization and branding work and supports the service provider in marketing and monetizing the service.

The company is already working with Nedjma, the Algerian mobile operator, and UTalk, a Russian service provider focused on building a country-wide affinity-based mobile IM network, which are adding hundreds of thousands of unique users a month. Palringo will be exhibiting at Mobile World Congress, February 14 - 17, in the AppPlanet Hall, Stand 7D22.

"The business case for an effective service that lets subscribers connect with friends and like-minded contacts using the mobile device is clear," said Tim Rea, CEO, Palringo. "Operators and other specialty service providers across the globe have approached us to leverage our experience, investments and best practices in this area to market and launch their own branded services. Palringo Custom Solutions are meeting this need by formalizing the process and providing these companies with a way to quickly and cost-effectively bring services to market."

Palringo Custom Solutions allow service providers to offer a branded messaging solution with a built-in community of close to 200,000 affinity groups on the Palringo network, plus the ability to manage and monitor their own groups using the best practices Palringo has developed building its own consumer offering. With the ability to launch in as little as four weeks and a service-based pricing model that mixes performance and usage to determine service fees, Palringo's white label offering offers a low barrier to entry for service providers who wish to monetize their customers' desire to communicate with friends, contacts and affinity groups.

Palringo has developed its own end-to-end telco-grade IM network with a proprietary protocol designed specifically to enable rich communications on any mobile device. The Palringo client works on all major mobile OSes and is able to connect to popular IM services. In addition to sending text-based IMs, users enjoy a host of additional features including:

    
    - Voice: A flexible form of push-to-talk messaging that allows users to
      use their phones like walkie-talkies;
    - Pictures: Palringo makes it easy to snap a picture on the phone, or
      select a picture from the on-device album, and drop it into an on-going
      discussion with an individual or within a group.
    - Groups: Palringo's group function is flexible and scalable and can
      easily accommodate hundreds of individuals within a group, making it a
      perfect communications tool for clubs, games enthusiasts and other
      affinity-based groups;
    - Location: Palringo offers a rich location/presence functionality that
      adds an additional level of communication within groups.

With the launch of Palringo Custom Solutions, service providers of any size can easily leverage this infrastructure to launch their own branded network.

Palringo worked with Cubiic, a systems integrator in North Africa, to launch a solution for Nedjma, an Algerian subsidiary of QTel. The operator launched Nedjma Net in Q4 of 2010, providing subscribers with a social service that allows them to send messages to individuals and groups. UTalk, a Russian service provider, runs an affinity-based mobile messaging service that allows users to chat with individuals and groups, and connect with other third-party messaging services.

"Palringo's expertise in running and managing a successful messaging service has allowed us to help Nedjma differentiate themselves in the marketplace with a unique service that is social, functional and enhances the mobile lifestyle," said Lebnan Nader, vice president, Cubiic. "We have been able to quickly launch and brand the service and have seen an incredible reception from subscribers."

About Palringo

Founded in 2006, the UK and San Francisco-based Palringo has built a new type of mobile communication solution that takes the PC-based instant messaging experience and makes it uniquely mobile. With close to seven million users sending tens of billions of messages monthly, the company has built a hardened, scalable system that delivers a compelling user experience to the consumer and a valuable communications tool to the enterprise. For more information, visit http://www.palringo.com